As travel picks up, Malaysia Airlines is hopeful about its business prospects in India.
India has traditionally supplied a steady stream of passengers for airlines operating out of hub airports. The big ME3 depend on India for a bulk of their business, and post COVID, the country has become a leading source of travelers for airlines in Southeast Asia, particularly as China takes its own time to reopen fully.
Malaysia Airlines is one such carrier that has high expectations from the Indian market as demand for travel to Asia and beyond picks up post-COVID. Simple Flying got a chance to speak with Capt. Izham Ismail, Group Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Aviation Group, to discuss, among other things, the opportunities for the airline in India.
With India opening its borders for international tourists on March 27th and Malaysia following soon from April 1st, it was the perfect time for Malaysia Airlines to begin redeploying its aircraft to the country substantially.
The carrier views India as an important market not just for point-to-point passengers but a significant source for those looking to travel beyond. Since March, Malaysia Airlines has had regular flights out of 5 Indian cities with a possibility of further expansion later this year.
Capt. Izham Ismail told Simple Flying,
“Since 27 March 2022, we have reinstated scheduled commercial services from India with 25 weekly flights from five (5) major cities, namely New Delhi (DEL), Bangalore (BLR), Mumbai (BOM), Chennai (MAA), and Hyderabad (HYD).”
“The response has been positive as we’re seeing healthy load factor for forward bookings. We are continuously reviewing the opportunities in the Indian market and will gradually add new routes, increase frequencies or upgrade aircraft wherever needed to meet these demands especially during peak travel periods. We will deploy fleet and network expansion opportunistically during peak periods to service high demand/capacity sectors.”
One of the biggest changes seen during the pandemic was a shift in preference for nonstop flights. But as air travel bounces back, and COVID is no longer the mystery virus it once was, passengers are warming up to connecting flights once again.
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Malaysia Airlines is counting on India for a significant number of travelers not only for short-haul destinations in Southeast Asia but beyond, including Australia and New Zealand. In fact, Australia was the largest destination for the carrier's transit passengers out of India.
In the first two quarters of 2022, the airline carried approximately 171,000 Indian passengers with a seat load factor of around 79%. More than half of those were point-to-point passengers. The largest transit markets for Indian passengers out of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) were:
Carriers such as Malaysia Airlines are essential for many South Indian cities to provide a link to destinations in Australia and New Zealand. Unlike Delhi, they do not have nonstop flights to Sydney and Melbourne, so it’s not surprising to see the list dominated by Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.
Malaysia Airlines uses its trusted workhorse, Boeing 737-800 aircraft, as well as the widebody Airbus A330 for flights to India. Data from FlightRadar24.com shows that in the last few days, the carrier has deployed both these types to all of its Indian destinations barring Hyderabad, where it exclusively deployed the 737.
The significant deployment of the 737 to India becomes particularly interesting, with Malaysia Airlines recently revealing the first of its upgraded Boeing 737-800 NG interiors. Speaking about the refurbishment, Capt. Ismail said,
“A series of focus groups and surveys were conducted to understand customer wants specifically out of short-haul travel … The refurbishment exercise also presented us with the opportunity to incorporate our identity into our hard product and work towards offering a streamlined and standardized brand and product design across our fleet, unique only to Malaysia Airlines.”
Malaysia Airlines expects to achieve pre-pandemic capacity in India by the end of this year, and judging by the long queues of international passengers at Indian airports, the goal certainly looks within reach.
What do you feel about Malaysia Airlines’ business strategy for India? Please let us know in the comment section below.
With a background in publishing and digital media, Gaurav likes to combine his love for aviation with his fondness for storytelling. He's a keen observer of ever-changing aviation trends around the world and particularly in India. Gaurav also keeps a close eye on the fleet development of all major carriers and their subsequent impact on regional and international routes. Based in New Delhi, India.